6. Chapter VI

I cried. I cried until I ran out of tears and my eyes were red and swollen, my face stained with dried tears and my throat sore and rasping. I got up and paced my cell. This was where I'd ended up. Trapped. I stood, I sat, I walked, I cried. I sat in my confinement without time.

I only kept track of the days going by as my meals arrived and were consumed accordingly. Without light or air, I seemed to lose myself to nothing. One day, twenty, it made no difference. The door swung open. I glanced at my untouched supper. It wasn't a mealtime. But it wasn't one of the maids who looked at me with pity or satisfaction in their eyes. It was Jack.

"You requested a final night," he said. I'd been in here nearly a week. Tomorrow I would be sixteen. I staggered to my feet, brushed the dirt from my clothes. He led me out of cell.

"You are free to roam the grounds tonight but not leave the castle. Tomorrow you will be sixteen and you shall join me" it was a fact. He wasn't even trying to make it seem like he might not choose me. I'd been chosen, I was going to die.

I headed to the courtyard. I stood there in the moonlight. The moon smiled down at me, bathing me in its warm glow. I wondered where Logan was. I didn't dwell on it for long. I headed out to the highest point I could find inside the walls.

I heard a crunch of footsteps and I spun around, in case it was Jack ordering me to return to my cell. But there was no one there. Just silence and the lingering presence that could not be seen. I heard another crack, behind me again and I spun around once more. Still nothing. I was losing my mind.

I glanced up at the moon, which had seemed so comforting when I'd first entered the courtyard, now seemed to be a giant's eye watching me, glaring at me, mocking me. I let out a single sob.

For the first time in a long time, I longed for normality. I normally wished for Bella and Jason, wished they'd find me and take me home but...now, if I hadn't met them, I wouldn't be here! I'd be living a normal life, school, boys. Normal teenage things! The silence was nerving me out.

Then, voices. Quiet but close. My curiosity got the better of me. I followed the sound of voices. They led me to the stable. I entered. I followed the sounds to the last stall, the empty one, furthest from the door. I crept closer and instead of entering the stall, I slipped into the next one and I peered through the gap in the wood.

My heart froze.

Logan and Vanessa. Kissing. My heart broke in that instant. I turned and ran, away from that sight, trying to outrun the pain. The clock struck twelve. I was sixteen. I rushed to the courtyard. Jack was standing there, eyes closed. He opened his eyes and smiled at me. I could no longer fight. I didn't even struggle as he bit me.